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Unleash Your Power-Divinization

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Unleash Your Power As I began the final lap of the 1600-meter race, I felt like I still had some strength left. It was only my second time running the event in a meet, and I didn’t particularly enjoy it. Two runners were ahead of me– one from the opposing school and one of my teammates. I effortlessly cruised on by the opponent from the opposing school and trailed my teammate for the next 200 meters. As I approached the final curve with 100 meters left, I kicked it into the next gear. I passed my teammate, and the roar of the crowd greeted me as I triumphantly crossed the finish line. It was my first-ever first-place finish in the event and marked the beginning of making the 1600 meters my signature race. In that final lap,  I unleashed my power and discovered my ability to compete successfully in the 1600 meters. As Christians, we too need to unleash our power. We must recognize our ability to be effective evangelizers, knowing that Christ is in us and works through us. God ...
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The Samaritan Divide

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 The greatest rift to peace in the United States is and always has been its racial divide. A divide that started hundreds of years ago that seems impossible to close. However, it is imperative that it closes. I believe that present-day commentators and activists on both the right and left are very far off on putting this issue to bed. Besides missing the key ingredients of God and His Truth, present-day civil rights activists lack an important virtue, and practically blatantly preach against it.  That key virtue is Humility. I am not just calling out the activists for lacking in the virtue. Our society from the actual racists, people with biases, to the indifferent, and to myself all lack humility. Fr. Bryan Massingale, a Catholic thought leader on racism, once said, "At it's Core Racism is a Soul Sickness" That soul sickness starts with the capital sin of Pride. When one's heart is completely filled with pride, they are incapable of loving. Humility allows oneself to...
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Mankind Desiring Christ to make the World into a Perfect Utopia

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 Jesus performed many miracles to show His followers and Judea that he was worthy to believe in. Perhaps, one of his most famous miracles was when he multiplied five loaves and two fishes to feed a hungry crowd of five thousand men (not including women and children) Even with this extraordinary act we see how the mentality of the City of Man works versus God's desired kingdom.  One can spot this mentality in the crowd right after they are fed. (John 6:15) Jesus, as he realised they were about to come and take him by force and make him king, fled back to the hills alone.) These people realized the power of Jesus but sought for Him to take care of their bellies and not so much their souls.  In the modern world the crowd is like the present society of America. Society loves all the humanaritian works done by Christians and the Church. Non Godly individuals appreciate when Christians feed and clothe the homeless, when the Church builds wells in Africa or provides healthc...
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It is Right and Just

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     In life we have priorities. Those priorities are usually participating in family life, school life, and work life. Sports and other recreational hobbies are commonly thrown into that mix. A vast majority of people put God in their priority list. However, God is not a priority. He is essential to our daily lives.      God deserves our worship and service. He not only deserves it; w e owe it to Him. God is due our honor, love, and respect. Our world makes worship and service to our creator a mere hobby. It says "If loving your God is your thing, then do it. If not, just go about your life like the rest of us."     Living our life without even attempting to love and serve God is downright dangerous. In the Roman Catholic Rite of the Mass, the Priest proclaims "Let us give thanks to the Lord our God." The Congregation responds, "It is right and just."     The Priest then replies, "It is truly right and just, our duty and our salvat...
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God Helps Those Who Help Themselves

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    One sunny morning, a few years back in my general contracting days, I hopped into my rusty pickup truck and turned the key in the ignition. "Bang" The passenger door closed with a thud. A wide smile from my cousin/helper, Pete, greeted my tired face. I put the gear stick in drive and sped off. On the road I made a sloppy sign of the cross and whispered a five second prayer.     "I am glad you are making an effort to pray, but do you know what you really are?" Pete asked with a grin on his face.     "What am I?" I replied with a smug smile.     "You are Lukewarm. You believe in God, but you don't live your life as if it matters. I shook my head with a resounding "No!" But inside my heart I knew he was right. I had been living my life as if God and His truth hadn't matter.       Now, a few years later, I can proudly say that I am actively living out my Baptismal calling. I am by far no saint, just a constant sinner seeking re...
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Waking up to the Seeds God planted in our Souls

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     Jesus was notorious for using parables to get His gospel message across to the crowds who gathered to listen to Him. All the parables are great, but in my opinion the best and most meaningful parable that applies to this book is "The Sower of the Good Seed." This parable can be found in three out of the four Gospels, and unlike other parables it is told pretty much in the same way in each gospel. Below is the parable as it is written in Mark chapter 4:  4  Again Jesus began to teach by the lake. The crowd that gathered around him was so large that he got into a boat and sat in it out on the lake, while all the people were along the shore at the water’s edge.   2  He taught them many things by parables, and in his teaching said:   3  “Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed.   4  As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up.   5  Some fell on rocky places, where ...
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Just A Pinch Of Incense To Caesar

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  During the early Christian persecution in the Roman Empire, many Christians standing on death row were asked to merely burn a pinch of incense in front of the Emperor's statue. If they would do this their lives would be spared. They were told they didn't even have to mean it. All they had to do was just go through the motions of accepting a Roman god! In response, most Christians refused and were martyred because they realized only Jesus was worthy of their love and worship. And no worldly compromise whether a handful or pinch size was worth risking their eternal soul.     Here in America, about 1,950 years later, we live in a culture that is ramming pinches of incense into our mouths. The thing is we don't have to swallow. And we mustn't swallow. Our culture has disbanded prayers to Jesus Christ in our schools. It has indoctrinated pre-marital affairs and gay lifestyles to our youth. It has created an identity crisis for males and females through diversity classes...
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